COURT CASE AGAINST ENGINEERING PLUS, AN AFFILIATE OF ALLIED MECHANICAL SERVICES

RAPID DESIGN SERVICE V ENGINEERING PLUS

Allied Mechanical Services touts its wide range of services on its web site, including its affiliation with the mechanical/engineering firm Engineering Plus. However, court records reveal some details about Engineering Plus that Allied Mechanical Services may not wish to brag about.

According to this court suit, Ralston Purina Company hired Engineering Plus to perform engineering and design work for their plant in Battle Creek, Michigan. Engineering Plus then subcontracted with Rapid Design System for part of the work and Rapid Design assigned personnel to work with Engineering Plus on the project. However Rapid Design began to notice that all of their billings were not being paid, and eventually Engineering Plus fell over $24,000 in arrears. Rapid Design ended up having to sue in an effort to collect the money it was owed.

ALLIED MECHANICAL SERVICES V THE PLUMBERS AND SHEET METAL LOCAL UNIONS

This court complaint filed by Allied Mechanical Services over a contract dispute was dismissed by a federal judge in April 1999. Allied Mechanical Services appealed, but lost again in appeals court, in July 2000.

ALLIED MECHANICAL SERVICES AND ITS CLIENT MIRED IN LITIGATION— CREDIT HOLD OVER CITY OF CHARLOTTE JOB

There is other evidence that Allied Mechanical Services had many problems on this job besides the OSHA violations. According to a February 6, 2002 letter, the Allied Mechanical Services job for the City of Charlotte "is now in litigation" and Allied Mechanical Services "is currently on credit hold with DeZurik" (a value supplier).

The Michigan Department of Labor has sent a demand letter to Allied Mechanical Services requesting more information about their use of apprentices and their compliance with the legal wage rates. This followed a Department of Labor audit that revealed that Allied Mechanical Services owed $62,679 in back wages for its work at Western Michigan University.

An experienced plumber has gone public with his concerns over Allied Mechanical Services’ use of connecting joints made of cast iron that were attached to plastic PVC pipe at the Coldwater High School. An Allied Mechanical Services employee originally went public with the disclosures, stating that the connections possibly violated building codes. Emmett Kelly, of the Michigan Plumbing Board, initaially stated that the use of the connectors violated the codes. Dave Knapp, of Plumber Union #337 stated, "I have seen [these type of connectors] come apart... there could be effluent leaking out to the water table, which could contaminate the drinking water."After several months and further inspection, Kelly was quoted as saying, "All three connections are acceptable." LASER could find no information that stated that the connectors are in compliance with Michigan state code.